The present invention relates to raised floor systems and more particularly to a cable support assembly for use in connection with a raised floor system.
Raised floor systems have been developed to provide the additional utility space needed in various different conduit or cable intensive environments where the original construction did not provide adequate means of accommodating the vast amount of conduit or cable. For example, probably the most common environment requiring vast amounts of additional protected space is for large computing systems. Such installations were typically made in facilities which simply were not designed to accommodate the vast amount of cable runs required to operate the typical large computer system. Other applications where additional utility space is required include mechanical systems, e.g., heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems.
A common problem experienced in utilizing raised floor systems is maintaining organization of the various cables, conduits, pipes, etc. which are routed beneath the floor system. One solution to this problem is to provide a cable tray system beneath the floor panels of the raised floor to contain and direct cables along their respective pathways. An example of such a cable tray system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,095 which issued on Jun. 24, 1986 to Chalfant (the xe2x80x9c""095 Patentxe2x80x9d). The ""095 Chalfant Patent features a modular cable tray assembly which is formed from modular sections which include a number of different components all of which must be separately assembled to form the cable tray. For example, the cable tray includes separate straight sections, horizontal bend sections, horizontal tee sections, horizontal cross-intersection sections, as well as splice plates to connect the various components to each other as well as support the assembled cable tray above the building floor. Such a cable tray assembly is, therefore, independent of the raised floor system.
A significant drawback of such a raised floor and cable support system is the additional labor required to assemble the various components of the separate raised floor and cable support systems. In geographic regions with particularly high labor rates, the cost of erecting such a labor intensive dual system could prove to be cost prohibitive.
Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cable support apparatus for a raised floor system, in which the apparatus is in the specific form of interconnected wire baskets, overcoming the foregoing and other shortcomings of the prior art.
More particularly, it is an object to obviate tedium and other installation requirements, such as welding, bolting, and the like, in the implementing of the supporting wire baskets preparatory to their use in cable-repository channels of a raised floor system, all as will be better understood as the description proceeds.